Calling it a “historic hand shake,” employees of adidas and PUMA will shake hands for the first time in six decades in support  of the peace  initiative “PEACE ONE  DAY.” As a sign of amicable cooperation,  employees of both companies will play football together on Peace Day, September 21, and subsequently watch the movie “The Day after Peace” by Jeremy Gilley, director and founder of PEACE  ONE DAY.

These events. according to a joint statement from both companies, will be the first joint activities of  both companies  since their  founders Rudolf and Adi Dassler left their shared firm and established  adidas and PUMA.

The joint initiative aims at raising awareness for PEACE ONE DAY  and the necessity of  peaceful cohabitation.  adidas and  PUMA will  also take the message and idea of PEACE ONE DAY into the football stadiums in Munich  and  Stuttgart  through  surprise  highlights  during  the halftimes of the German premier league games FC Bayern Munich – 1. FC Nuremberg and VfB Stuttgart – 1. FC Keln on September 19.

“We at adidas are very proud  to support PEACE ONE DAY together  with PUMA. We  firmly believe  that sport  can bring  the world  together. Sport has shown this  at countless occasions in  the past and we  are committed to  the positive  values found  in sport:  performance  and passion, teamwork and fair play,” said Herbert Hainer, CEO of  adidas AG. “I am looking very much  forward to our adidas and PUMA  football match and I  hope that our  joint initiative helps  to raise  further awareness for PEACE ONE DAY around the world.”

Jochen Zeitz, Chairman and CEO of PUMA, said: “We are uniting on this day as a  commitment to  PEACE DAY. Our  common goal  being that  our collaboration today will help create awareness for the day. Kofi Anan once said that 'individuals can make a difference and collectively we can make a major contribution'. I  believe that is the case also  for companies. And our unity, in support of PEACE DAY, is a small step in a positive direction as well as an expression of the united power  of  sport in a world which we are all responsible for.”

The companies adidas and PUMA were founded by the brothers Rudolf and Adi Dassler in  the 1940s. Until  they separated and  went their  own ways,  they   both  owned   a  factory   called  “Gebrueder   Dassler Sportschuhfabrik” where  they together  manufactured sports  shoes  – quite successfully as the world records of Jesse Owens proved. In the last decades, adidas and PUMA  became worldwide leading brands.  Both companies are still based in Herzogenaurach, Germany.

Jeremy Gilley started PEACE ONE DAY (POD) as a movie project in order to establish an  annual day  of ceasefire and  non-violence. In  2001 PEACE ONE DAY achieved its  primary objective; having the UN  general assembly adopt  a resolution  by  all UN  member states  to  formally establish an annual  day of global  ceasefire and non-violence.  This International Day  of Peace  is September  21st. PUMA has been  a partner of PEACE ONE DAY since 2007.